Japanese, Colorado style

Tonight we went to a Japanese hibatchi-style restaurant for dinner. Lizzie is starting the celebration for her 10th birthday a bit early and this was her request. Her actual birth-day is July 1 but 10 is a milestone and one can never have too many parties.
We began with a first course of edamame. For the uninitiated, these are soy bean pods, very warm with salt. You just eat the beans out and leave the shells. Very tasty and very healthy......well, maybe not the salt part. Jenna says you can buy these at Costco in a pouch and just pop them in the microwave to heat. They are really good and sort of like eating potato chips in that you can't eat just one. Next up for the brave souls was sushi. These are left to right, tuna roll, yellow tail, and a spicy tuna with avocado. I think I could eat the vegetable ones but I don't like cucumber or avocado and I'm not partial to raw fish. But most everyone else tried it. (It's certainly not cheap)Then the main attraction started with the flames to get our attention. Between the knife tricks, the egg twirling (for the fried rice) and tossing broccoli at us to catch in our mouths, it was quite a show. The food was spectacular. I had the filet mignon with lobster tail....cooked to perfection. Paul had the salmon and the kids tried chicken, shrimp and beef dishes.
After dinner , Lizzie received her ice cream with a candle and a hug from Kelsey, Nicholas' girlfriend. To change the subject quite a bit. Mike and Jenna have started on an immense project, a salt water fish tank. This is the tank, and it is huge.....210 gallons. They have another smaller tank that they have set up in order to learn the ins and outs of this major hobby. So far, they have kept an original anemone and he has even split in two but have lost a few fish. They are pretty close to putting fish in the large one. The entire thing is so complex and requires extensive plumbing , analysis and monitoring. Once it is established and stable, it will have stunning corals and colorful fish and creatures that just don't look real.
Monday and Tuesday will be moving day with a lot to be accomplished and on Wed, we fly to Orlando and home. This trip has been beyond our expectations and we are reluctant to end it. Funny how that is......I was not anxious to leave a couple weeks ago and not I'm not anxious to return. Well, I am anxious to get home but I will miss all that we have seen and done and all the good times we have had. Guess we'll just have to do it again. See you in Florida in a couple of days. Thanks for stopping by.